LIMA — Great customer service and quality products are the two main reasons why Ernst Concrete has maintained its success over the last 70 years, according to Harley Maize, Ernst Concrete operations manager.

When Pete Ernst began the company in 1946 his main service was providing gravel to farmers in Houston, Ohio. Approximately 10 years later the company transitioned into a ready-mix concrete supplier.

In 1985, the Lima plant on 377 S. Central Ave. was established and 33 years later there are now nine plants with five locations in the Northwestern region.

Over the last 60-plus years, the operation has grown as a fourth generation family-owned concrete business with over 40 plants throughout Kentucky, Ohio and greater Atlanta. Each plant is capable of producing 120 yards an hour of concrete.

The operation is overseen by John Ernst Jr., Ernst Concrete president and the headquarters is in Dayton.

Ernst Concrete has the ability to deliver concrete in various ways which include through its front discharge concrete mixer trucks or its new concrete conveyor trucks.

“We really like to be a one-stop shop when it comes to concrete,” said Collin Ernst, corporate operations manager. “You can make one phone call and you can get all of your concrete needs taken care of.”

Through concrete pumping, the company can deliver the ready mix to the hardest to reach construction sites, Collin Ernst said.

The new concrete conveyor trucks’ conveyors can pivot approximately 120 degrees and reach over 30 feet.

“It changes the whole realm of how we place concrete,” said Maize. “A lot of guys here are doing basement walls, footers, slabs that are in a really tight garages where you really can’t really move a truck around. We can place concrete so much easier. It’s easier for the customer and it’s a simplistic way to place concrete.”

The company takes pride in providing quality products and service to the Lima-area community because they want to see their community prosper.

“Reputation is everything, and we don’t want a bad rapport,” said Maize. “We are servicing our neighbors here and we try to make it work. I really think as a ready mix producer we go above and beyond to make sure our people in the Lima area are happy with the products that they are buying.”